Letter: Service animals not the same as pets

To the editor, Wonderful to hear that North Dakota has passed the new service animal law. Now maybe "doctor's notes" telling gullible people that pets are service animals are phony and will be put to an end. I also was a pet owner of several dogs...

Written By:
Joel Anderson |
Apr 21st 2019 - 6am.

To the editor,

Wonderful to hear that North Dakota has passed the new service animal law. Now maybe "doctor's notes" telling gullible people that pets are service animals are phony and will be put to an end.

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I also was a pet owner of several dogs and cats when I lived in the country. However, when moving into town where my pets could infringe on other people's rights, I accepted that and do not have pets anymore. I fully understand the difference between the term "service animals," which are highly trained to assist only persons with a handicap (such as blindness, etc.) and "pets."

Service animals have been officially legal for over 70 years and are not treated like a pet. Service animals are extensively and expensively trained to provide service to specific handicapped persons. These phony doctor's notes and illegal props designed and used to fool naïve people and designed to allow cheating people to ride on commercial airplanes, or live in communal property that forbids pets, etc., are now illegal.